EU could not survive euro collapse, leaders warn

EU leaders issued dire warnings today that 60 years of European integration could be torn apart by the eurozone’s sovereign debt crisis with unpredictable consequences for the future of the continent.

The warnings came as Brussels signalled plans for the issue of joint eurobonds, which would mean all 17 eurozone states guaranteeing each others’ borrowings, spreading the cost more evenly. Germany - which has the bloc’s lowest borrowing costs - has consistently rejected such an approach.

With speculation rife about a Greek sovereign debt default, the German Chancellor Angela Merkel is due to hold an emergency teleconference later today with President Sarkozy of France and George Papandreou, the Greek Prime Minister.